Betting on the outcome of events has increased dramatically in popularity over the years. The outcome of events has importance both commercially in business and socially for entertainment. Sport in particular has increased in popularity over the years. Sports matches are now regularly attended and viewed by many either in person or via TV or computer based media.
Amongst the most popular sporting events viewed include cricket, rugby, football, baseball, field hockey, ice hockey, basketball, darts, motor racing, sailing, cycling. American football, golf, tennis, field and track athletics, snooker and basketball.
All sports include as a basis a competition either between competitors or between an individual and pre-defined goal. One such popular sporting game is cricket. Cricket is a team sport played with a bat and a ball on a cricket field, which is in the shape of an oval. The teams include eleven players a side. A first team bats, and tries to score runs, while an opposing team bowls and fields, trying to get the first team dismissed. The key action takes place on the “pitch.” The pitch is the central most part of the field that has been specially prepared. It is rectangular, about 22 yards in length, and at each end are placed “wickets.” The wickets are placed behind a boundary termed the “crease” and include three vertical stumps positioned apart from one another and two horizontal bails, which are positioned on top of and in between the stumps. The wicket serves as a target for the bowler, e.g., pitcher, of the fielding side and are defended by the batter of the batting side. The bowler from the fielding side attempts to throw the ball at the wicket in such a manner that the ball displaces the bails from the stumps. The primary concern of the batsman is to guard the wicket and prevent the ball from hitting the wicket. In addition to protecting the wicket, the secondary concern of the batsman is to score runs by hitting the ball with his bat so that he has time to run from one end of the pitch to the other before the fielding side can return the ball.
A run may be scored in two ways. A run may be scored when the batsman hits the ball and has subsequently run the length of the pitch. A run may also be scored when the batter hits the ball in a manner that it reaches the boundary of the field. If a hit ball does cross the boundary the batting team is automatically awarded runs. Four runs are scored if the ball touches the ground en route to the boundary, and six runs are scored if the ball clears the boundary in the air without touching the ground on route. The batsman does not need to run if the ball reaches or crosses the boundary. The bowling side seeks to dismiss the batsmen by various means until the batting side is all out, whereupon the side that was bowling takes its turn to bat and the side that was batting must take the field. Winning the game is achieved by scoring the most runs.
Another such popular sport is Golf. Players aim to navigate through a round of 18 holes in the lowest number of shots. Each hole is shaped differently and of different lengths comprising a tee, a fairway and a green. Each hole is situated on a green, on which the player uses a putter to roll the ball into the hole. The green can be of different shapes with dips and bumps and its grass is cut closely.
Another such popular sport is Motor Racing. Forms of racing could include bikes or cars in a number of different forms such as touring cars, formula 1/2/3 & 4, super bikes etc. Teams nominate drivers to drive the bikes and cars around tracks that form unique patterns. A race will be of a certain length or number of laps and drivers compete to win the race and the corresponding points for such a win. Each lap time is recorded by computer and is shown to the team and spectators. During such a race drivers will briefly interrupt the race and come into an area known as the pits. Here the team's mechanics can refuel the bike or car, change parts of the bike or car and fix any parts before sending the driver back out onto the track.
Another such popular sport is baseball. Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond. Players on one team (the batting team) take turns hitting against the pitcher of the other team (the fielding team), which tries to stop them from scoring runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways. A player on the batting team can stop at any of the bases and later advance via a teammate's hit or other means. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the fielding team records three outs. One turn at bat for each team constitutes an inning and nine innings make up a professional game. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins. If a player hits the ball over the fence inside of the foul lines it is known as a home run and means the player can run all four bases to score one run.
Also popular is roulette. Roulette is a casino game. It involves a wheel that is demarcated with pockets that are both numbers and colours which alternate between red and black (although other colour combinations are also possible). A croupier spins the wheel in one direction and spins a ball in the opposite direction around a tilted circular track running around the circumference of the wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a number, a range of numbers, the colours red or black, or whether the number is odd or even. The ball eventually loses momentum and falls on to the wheel and into one of the coloured and numbered pockets on the wheel.
Typically, roulette players make one or more of a variety of bets, which bet attempts to predict into which pocket the ball will land. For instance, along with the spinning wheel, roulette is played with a roulette table upon which is a two-dimensional, rectangular representation of the numbers on the roulette wheel. Generally, there are two types of bets that can be made: inside and outside bets. Inside bets include straight up bets, split bets, street bets, corner bets, six line bets, and trio bets. A straight-up bet is one or more single number bets, wherein the bet is placed by selecting a single number pocket, which bet predicts the number of the pocket the ball falls into. A split bet a bet placed on two adjoining numbers, wherein the bet is placed by selecting adjoining numbers on the roulette table. A street bet is a bet on three numbers. A corner (or square) is a bet on the corner of four numbers. A six line bet is a bet on a line of six numbers on the table. A trio is a bet on an intersecting point. Outside bets include a bet on a number between one to eighteen or a number between nineteen and thirty six. Other outside bets include a bet on either red or black, even or odd, or dozen bets, such as a bet on the first (1-12), second (13-24), or third group (25-36) of twelve numbers. A column bet may also be made, wherein a bet is placed on all 12 numbers on any of three vertical lines of numbers on the table.
As described above both cricket and roulette are popular games watched and/or played independently. A computerised system and method for combining the two games together would be useful. This would allow improved player functionality and a more interactive and sociable experience. The provision of such a computerised system may also be useful as a training device to assist in teaching potential players of the sport which shots are considered hardest to place by virtue of the odds associated with them or to assess statistically which shots players most prefer to make. Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to a system, method and apparatus for playing a betting game, such as roulette, wherein the bet corresponds to a result in a sporting event, such as a cricket match.
As discussed above, whilst various methods for placing bets exist, all depend on the bet being placed far enough ahead of the event to allow the bets to be collated and placed. It would be desirable to provide a means and method of allowing bets to be placed in “real time” alongside an event to allow for a more ongoing and interactive experience. This would have a number of advantages including more regular placing of bets therefore allowing a continuous user system and a greater involvement in the result generated by the event etc.